Count and Pray

The thumb is nearest to you. So begin a prayer remembering those closest to you.

The next is index finger, the pointing finger. Remember all those who point their fingers at you; they could be teachers, doctors, parents and administrators. Pray for them.
The next finger is the tallest finger. Remember our leaders and authorities who shape the Nation and the Society, thus giving protection and a supporting environment. They need greater wisdom and more Divine support.
The next finger is the ring finger. This is our weakest finger; piano teachers know it. It reminds us of the weak; all those who need help and or are in some sort of trouble/pain. Pray for them.
There is the little finger left. It is the smallest of all; place ourselves there in relation with God and everything else. Put your own needs into proper perspective and be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

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The thumb is nearest to you. So begin a prayer remembering those closest to you.

The next is index finger, the pointing finger. Remember all those who point their fingers at you; they could be teachers, doctors, parents and administrators. Pray for them.
The next finger is the tallest finger. Remember our leaders and authorities who shape the Nation and the Society, thus giving protection and a supporting environment. They need greater wisdom and more Divine support.
The next finger is the ring finger. This is our weakest finger; piano teachers know it. It reminds us of the weak; all those who need help and or are in some sort of trouble/pain. Pray for them.
There is the little finger left. It is the smallest of all; place ourselves there in relation with God and everything else. Put your own needs into proper perspective and be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

The whole system of Indian Thought is unique for its concept of Dharma. The definition of Dharma may be varying from system to system, but every system accepts the preservation of dharma as a necessary precondition for the preservation of life and universe. The term dharma means anything that preserves one own existence as well as the co-existence of others. That is, it aims at the co-existence of man and the universe. What is essential to preserve the
co-existence of man and universe may be a debatable matter. For Eg; the Carvaka system, the Indian materialistic thought strongly believes that bread alone is enough to preserve human existence.But all other systems have the opinion that human existence can be preserved by something more than bread and its’ fabrications. In biblical terms, man needs every word that comes from the mouth of God apart from daily bread.

If we accept that bread alone is enough to preserve human existence then the natural outcome is that every human being has to accumulate the maximum amount of bread to ensure the longevity of human existence. If everyone tries accumulating the maximum for oneself, then the result will be competition, conflict, crisis and war. In such a set up no one will be able to live a normal life. This shows that if one believes in bread alone, it cannot guarantee even his own existence because victory in any war needs something more than skill and efficiency. That something can be termed as good luck. But one cannot be sure that the good luck will always be with him.

Therefore, the Indian Rishis introduced a very unique term to the philosophical world, ie. Ahimsa. Literally, it means abstain from killing. But it is impossible to lead a normal life without annihilating the other beings because we want to eat something. Eating something means annihilation of one form of life or other. Even a strict non-vegetarian cannot make a claim that he is not annihilating anything because life element in a piece of grain can never be different from the life element in me. Then the question arises is whether ahimsa is an impractical concept or not. The answer given by the Indian tradition is that it is practical because the term Ahimsa means to take only the minimum from the world. That is Ahimsa means the minimum use of wealth, power, position, fame etc. The use of the minimum guards you from competition, conflict, crisis and war and it guarantees peaceful co-existence.

Not only Krishna, even Mahavira had never been ignorant and imperfect in any of his past lives. It is another thing that Mahavira came to know of it only in his last life. Krishna had always known it; he knew it eternally. Even we are not ignorant and imperfect. Each one of us is all- knowing and each one of us is whole – just we are not aware of it. It is all a matter of remembering, of being aware that we are it. The difference lies in awareness, not in being. For example, the sun is high up in the sky, but all of us here go to deep sleep. The sun will be high up there, but then we will not be aware of it. Then one of us wakes up and knows that sun is shining on him. The sun will be shedding light equally on all those who remain sleep, but they will not be aware of it. And when they awaken will they be right in saying the sun rose with their awakening? No, what would be right for them to say is that the sun was already there, but they woke up to it later. No one neither Mahavira, nor Krishna or you or me – is without light and knowledge. Each one of his whole as he is, it is all a matter of remembering it, waking up to it.

Throughout his existence, in all of his lives, Krishna has been aware that he is whole. So his question of striving for it does not arise. At particular level of his existence, say in his last life, Mahavira comes to know through his efforts and disciplines, that he is not ignorant and imperfect, but knowing and whole. And when he is awakened he also comes to know that this has always been the case, he has always been aware and whole. And what difference does it make if someone comes to know of it a few lives earlier or later? But it makes a difference for those of us who live in time; we are always concerned about time – who comes first and who comes last. But eternally no one is the first and no one is the last. In existence, time is without beginning and without end. So the question of one’s awakening to reality sooner or later does not arise. This question has relevance for those of us who has who believe in time begins and ends. If time has no beginning, then what does it matter if someone awakens two days before me? Or two lives after me?

The measurement of time in seconds, days, and years is imaginary; man has invented it. It is conceptual, utilitarian and comparative, but not a fact. Reality is eternal and immeasurable. And enlightenment and awakening or whatever we call it happens beyond time, in timelessness. It will seem strange to us when we see that the moment of Mahavira’s attainment is the same as the moment of Krishna’s. We will say it is incredible, yet it is the fact. Let us understand it this way. On a piece of paper I draw a circle with a centre. Then I draw a number of lines running from the circumference to the centre (like spokes of a wheel). Right at the circumference there is distance, a gap between any two lines. But this gap goes on shrinking as the lines proceed towards the centre. And as they reach the centre this gap disappears altogether. It is the same with the time. At the circumference of the time there is a gap between Mahavira and Krishna, between Krishna and me, between me and you, but there is no gap what so ever when we arrive at the centre. But since we all live in the time of circumference, and we have no knowledge of its centre, we find it difficult to understand that Mahavira and Krishna arrive there together, at the same place. In the same way time or history forms the circumference while the truth or divinity forms the centre. All distances belong to time and space. At the centre where eternity abides, all distances disappear.

A few years back there have been reports on four princesses held hostages in the palace of Saudi Arabia. Their mother was divorced without her knowledge. Somehow she escaped and is in Great Britain now. May be because they invited the displeasure of the king that they were held hostages for life. The reports say that they haven’t enough food and cloths. Still, they are called princesses.
I remember to have read the comment of a prisoner on the worst things in prison. 10th was the foul smell, 9th was racial discrimination, 8th was getting fat without exercise, solitary confinement with no books, no blankets, no lights… came 7th; 6th was drugs that were secretly available inside, then came changing economy and prices going through the roof. The fourth was losing everyone loved; third was loneliness; the second was deaths inside the prison. The first was getting out.
Is this world a great prison? According to Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, “In the prison house, if you think a first-class prison is very nice, but after all, it is prison house. Your independence is cut down. So similarly, here in this material world it is simply varieties. We call, This is first class. This is second class. This is third class. Actually, it is all third class…” Another view point is that since our bodies need necessities like food, clothing and shelter, nobody could be free because these are not entities that freely flow into. To get all these things we offer our time and effort. The rich who have all these at call also have worries. They neither are immune against illnesses nor free from worries on losses, where they also put their effort and earnings. Gautam Buddha talked extensively on the bondages that tie each human being here. Most important for any prisoner is getting out. In common life, getting out from where, is a question many do not try to answer. We do not know that we have imprisoned our dear and near on the basis of ideologies and attitudes. Even if we run out, there could be theologies and philosophies to chase us. Sensible humans conclude that freedom is the privilege of only the spirits.

We are living in a ‘Market culture’. It influences us in many ways. It says that it is the routine matter to offer something as an incentive to buy something. Even if we are not in need of that particular thing which is being offered by the market, we have the habit of acquiring all those ‘free gifts’ as a part of our routine life.

How far are we being justified morally in these free gifts accumulation? The Indian System of thought says that accepting anything which is not essential for our existence is wrong. This concept is technically called ‘aparigraha’. ‘Aparigraha’ literally means to abstain from receiving anything which is not essential to ensure our existence, i.e. the basic needs like food, shelter etc. are to be minimized to ensure a fact that we are not taking anything which is not our due. We are warned to practise ‘aparigraha’ because the Nature is sure to provideeverything to meet the need of all but nothing to satisfy the greed of even one. So if we take anything that is not essential to us, no matter how small it is, we are taking something which could have been the share of someone else. This act amounts to theft.

So what is necessary in the present context is to check the influence of the market by oneself. Market really tempts us to accumulate the maximum but ‘aparigraha’ reminds that there is nothing to satisfy the maximum of a single person. Therefore we have to accept a simple fact that our greed also is responsible for the famine in Bosnia and other countries. Is it that difficult to sort out our needs from our wants?

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa always loved to speak through parables, the way people easily understand things. According to him, Brahman (God) is practically impossible for human minds to understand. This he explained through a story of a father who sent his two boys to a preceptor to learn the Knowledge of Brahman. After a few years they returned.

Wanting to measure the depth of their knowledge of Brahman,their father first asked the older of the two boys,’My child, now tell me, what is the nature of Brahman?' The boy began to explain Brahman by reciting various texts from the Vedas. The father did not say anything. Then he asked the younger son the same question. But the
boy remained silent and stood with eyes cast down. The father was pleased and said to him: My child, you have understood a little of Brahman. What It is cannot be expressed in words.

Sri Ramakrishna Parmahansa again used the parable of the ant and the sugar hill, just to explain the same thing. He said that there was an ant which went to a sugar hill. One grain filled its stomach. Taking another grain in its mouth it started homeward thinking, ‘Next time, I shall carry home the whole hill.' He said that it is the way shallow minds think of God. They don’t know that Brahman is beyond ones capacity to express. He concluded saying that even big ants have a limit.

“Holy man,” said a novice to Father Abbot, “my heart is full of love for the world and my soul is free of temptations from the devil. What is my next step?”
The Abbot asked the young man to accompany him on a visit to a sick person who needed the ‘anointing of the sick.’ While comforting the family, the Abbot noticed a trunk in a corner of the house.
“What is it?’ asked the Abbot. “It is clothes,” replied the son, that my father never used. He bought nice clothes, always thinking that the right occasion would arise to wear them. But he never wore them. They ended up rotting in that truck.”
“Don’t forget that trunk,” said the venerable Abbot to the young man, as they left the house.

Comment: Be aware of the good gifts you are endowed with and be sure to make use of them for the good of your neighbour and for your own spiritual growth. Left to themselves they will rote away like the good clothes in the trunk.

Mr. Smith and the head teacher were standing near the playground, where the children were frolicking to their heart’s content. He asked the headmaster, “Why is it that everyone wants to be happy, but so few ever are?”

The teacher looked at the playground and answered, “Those children seem to be really happy.” “Why shouldn’t they be?” said Smith. “All they do is play. But what keeps the grownups from being happy like that?”

“The same thing that can keep children from being happy.” When he said that, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of copper coins, and threw them among the playing children. Suddenly all laughter stopped. The children tumbled over one another, fought and argued, in collecting the coins,

Then the teacher said to Mr. Smith, “Well, what do you think ended their happiness?”
“The fighting,” answered Smith. “And what started the fighting?” “Greed.”
“There you have the answer to your question” said the teacher.
-Willi Hoffsuemmer

Comment: Greed is nothing but the uncontrolled desire to possess. Buddha would say, desire is the root cause of all evil. As new leaves sprout one after another on a thriving plant, desire sprouts up endlessly in the human heart. Everybody wants to find happiness. But their greed to possess the things that they think will make them happy, unfortunately, keeps happiness itself away.

On April 1995, I had a
chance to visit the Mumbai High oil drilling site, about 200 km away from the seashore. It takes almost an hour to reach there by a helicopter. From the engineering point of view, the whole operation is amazing. The fixation of the drilling rigs and platforms is an engineering feat. The foundations of these structures are very deep in order to keep them stable. I met some engineers who had worked there in the initial days of construction and they narrated their experiences with great pride, expressing the thrill of achievement. They also told me that the foundation construction of these structures was the most difficult stage and to carry out this task, expert divers were called from other countries.

I was told that deep-sea diving is a difficult job and a good amount of training was required for it. As the pressure of water increases proportionately to the depths of the sea, a diver has to take precautionary measures to withstand the stress. I was told that in earlier days, the training process took a long time as the divers were subjected to gradually increasing pressure before they could venture deep into the sea. Now, there are special equipments which create sea conditions
artificially and the process of training is expedited. However, the principle of training remains the same, which is to create enough internal resistance or pressure to withstand the external pressure. If the diver does not do this, his
body could collapse. I have drawn some very interesting inferences from this fact.

The world we live in is also like a sea. The deeper we go into it the greater are the disturbing forces we have to face. If we are not trained or used to bear these pressures, we collapse and fail to achieve the goal of our existence. We forget the nature of the world and the fact that there is no use blaming external circumstances. We should, on the other hand, train ourselves to withstand the pressures of the world. For this, we have to develop enough internal strength so that the two neutralize each other and we are able to dive into this worldly sea like professional divers.

In real life it means that one’s development should be appropriately integrated. The bigger is the external growth the
greater is the need for internal growth too. That is why people with high positions, greater riches, greater fame, or power should be much more balanced than ordinary persons. If they are not so, the outer trappings may become the cause
of their disaster. A balanced growth of personality makes us good divers, plunging confidently into this worldly sea.
The world will then cease to be a source of danger or trouble for us and we can enjoy living in it, as well as performing our duties well.

My habit of creating different kinds of expansions of regular words is resurfacing again and again these days. As a student, I always used to remember my lessons by remembering first letters of any bulleted points. When I started teaching, I started expanding regular words as if they are acronyms. This was just an attempt to help learners to remember the concepts easily. Today it is the turn of the word “GURU”. Our traditional understanding of the word ‘GURU’ immediately locks one of the two meanings in our mind; A Teacher or An Expert. Both these meanings highlight that knowledge is flowing from a Guru to his disciple or subject. This is also called a Mentor- Learner relationship. Let’s dig deeper. A true Guru would be one who knows a lot. A person who knows a lot will find opportunities to learn things from everyone and everywhere. He will not hesitate to learn even from his disciple. So! In my opinion a Mentor-Learner relationship should be bi-directional. This is called give and take relationship by behaviour science experts. This relationship in common language is what we call as a relationship of friends.
With the above discussion we can now evolve a new expansion of the word GURU as: Guru – Gives U, Receives U (Read it as Gives You, Receives You). An ideal GURU is like a close friend. I have seen some people establishing this kind of relationship even with their Deities. My mother used to talk to the statue of Lord Krishna, as if he was sitting right next to her. She even used to scold her Lord, if something didn’t go the way she had planned. This is possible only if there is a relationship of friendship. As a learner I think the best policy is to completely get devoted and bowed down towards your Guru, so that he can receive you well. A true Guru, while giving to you, will make sure that he has learnt something new to be given to you when you meet again.